One method of manufacturing conductor rails is described in French Patent Specification No. 2286680 which involves bending a facing strip of a wear-resisting material into contact with a main body formed of aluminium and then effecting a crimping operation to key the facing strip into interlocking engagement with the main body.
A disadvantage of this production method is that the maximum thickness of facing strip that can be employed is 3mm. This quite clearly imposes a limitation on the wear-resisting characteristics of the facing strip.
Another method which is employed for the production of conductor strips involves the co-extrusion of a main body of aluminium and a steel facing layer so that a chemical bonding of the facing layer to the aluminium body is obtained. This method enables the production of a facing layer of, for example, 5mm. in thickness but the production facilities which are involved are extremely expensive.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for the manufacture of conductor rails.